May 11 2017 |

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My children, bless them, have made food a constant reminder this week. They are 1 and 4 so obviously I don’t expect them to understand too much about this SNAP Challenge experience. Nor can they check their own ravenous desire for food. First thing in the morning (banana!) and right after school (cheesy snack!), it's all about their need to eat.

While I’m happier than ever to be able to provide for them, purchasing, cooking and cleaning up after their meals is an up-close way in which the challenge makes its presence felt. It's a visceral reminder of the coping strategies used by parents and even older siblings –forgoing meals, watering down food or other heart-breaking acts –to ensure that children have enough to eat.

The four-year-old, however, has definitely noticed that I am consuming the same thing every day. Remarkably, when I told him I'm only eating what you could buy when you need help, he said "that's not much." Sounds like an expert in CalFresh benefit adequacy to me.